Life-preserver



A. D. BAILEY.-

UFE PRESERVER. APPLICATION man JUNE 1. 191s.

Patented Jan. 25, 1921.-

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

@ffy

lwllllflfllTbhnlr- -liflhTlN I- /WW Dn i 7 zu idw A. D. BAILEY.

LIFE PRESERVER. APPLICATION FILED JUNE I, IsIs.

Patented Jan. 25, 1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- UNITED STATES lPATENT OFFICE.

ANNA DEANE BAILEY, or NEW YORK, N. Y..AssIGNoR, BY DIRECT AND MEsNE ASSIGNMENTS, 'ro G. MAs'rEN co., INC., or NEW YORK,v N. Y., A coRI'o- RAfrIoN or NEW YORK.

To all 'whom t 'may concern; y

Be 1t known that I, ANNA DEANE BAILEY,

a citizen ofthe United States, and a resident of the borough of Manhattan, city, county, and State of New York,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Life- 'Preservers, of which the' following is a` specication-- The objectief this invention is to provide 'a durable and .inexpensive appliance which may be attached to the body-very conveniently and quickly, and without confusion.

A further object of the invention isfto provide simple and inexpensive means whereby the head and face of the wearer will be protected `against undue buifeting by the waves.; Y In the drawings, Figurelv is a plan view Vof the device extended; and

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the device inl position for use.

'The' front or chest member A ofthe appliance consists preferably of aV series of vertical buoyant members I, flexibly connectedtogetherat their vertical edges, and preferably consisting of a suitable fabric inclosing a block of cork or other buoyant material. The back member B is similarly constructed, the vertical buoyant members being designated by 2. The front and back members are connected together by a flexible shoulder portion 3, said shoulder portion being a part of the fabric which incloses the buoyant elements of the front and back members. The shoulder portion 3 is provided with a large opening to permit the appliance to be passed downwardly over thev head. The frontand back members are also connected together by means of arm straps et, said straps and the' shoulder portions forming arm holes through which the arms are to be thrust when the appliance is passed downwardly over the head.

Secured to the shoulder portion of the appliance is a head-protecting float C, which consists of the front pillow 5, the rear pillow 6, said pillows being connected together by the comparatively thin shoulder-protecting pads or ioats7. The head-protecting float is formed with a large opening 8, which registers with the openingV in the shoulder portion vof the main body of the appliance, and the two parts of the appliance are con'- nected together around the edges of the said head receiving opening. The head-protect- LIFE-PRESERVER.

, Specification of Letters Patent. Patented an, 25, 1921 Application mea rune 1, 191s. serial No. 237,793.

ing float is provided with a draw-string or cord- 9, which extends around the head- .receiving opening, theV two ends thereof being arranged at the front of the appliance, as shown clearly in Fig. 2. By meansof this draw-string the head-receiving opening maybe contracted around the neck of the wearer to prevent the head dropping down through the opening, should the wearer become exhausted. y means of thedrawstring thc front and back pillows will. be drawn into proper position to support and protect the head, should the wearer become exhausted while in the water.' The thinner shoulder portions of the head-protecting pad will not obstruct the view of the wearer sidewise, so that a proper look-out for wreckage and boats may be had.

ance may be contracted to lit the body of the z wearer, and may be suitably secured in posivtion by means-of cords or tapes 10, secured to the back memberand adapted tobefpassed through loops 1l on thev front'member or if desired, they may be passed entirely around the body of the wearer and tied in front or at the back, as may be convenient.

in applying the device, it is only necessary lto pass the head through the headreceiving opening and to thrust theA arms upwardly and outwardly between the arm straps and the shoulder portions of the main body of the appliance. The draw-string then may be pulled to contract the headprotecting float, and then the strings l0 may Vbe tied around the body part of the device.

The. proper method of applying the device to a wearer is obvious from a mere inspection of it, and this is a very essential feature in devices of this kind.V

Vfhat l claim is:

l. A life preserver of the character described comprising body sustainingmeans, and head sustaining means connected to said body sustaining means and comprising front and rear buoyant pillows spaced apart, connecting 'lioats between said pillows and adapted to lie at opposite sides of the neck of the wearer, said connecting ioats being compressible and extensible in a longitudinal direction whereby to admit of the front and rear pillows approaching each other or being moved farther apart, said front and rear pillows and said connecting floats having an vopening therebetween to receive the rfid Vhead of the wearer, and means associated with said head sustaining means for compressing` the lateral ioats and simultaneowsly` clrawingthe pillows together about the head.

" 2. A life preserver of the character dev scribed comprising front and rear body sus-l taining members-"a shoulder member con- @nected between the upper ends of the iirstmentioned members and adapted to seat on the shoulders of the wearer, said shoulder :memberhaving an openingtherein .to receire the head of the wearer, a head sustaining member having'an opening in reg istry with the opening in said shoulder member, Vsaid shoulder member and head sustaining .member being` secured together about s aid opening and being formed with a-'casing thereabout, a draw-string in said y casi-ng adapted to contract the opening about the neck of the wearer after. the head has been inserted therethrough, lateral Boats of Vcompressible'character on the head sus-V taining member at the sides of said openmg forv supporting and protecting` the'sldes ofthe head, andfront and rear pllowscarriedon the-head sustaining member at the Y or released.

ends ci said lateral ioats and adapted to Y app-roach each other or to move apart accordingly assaid draw-string is tightened -3. A life preserver of thel character def scribed includingfront andf rear body mem- V.beISQ agshoulder member connected tov the yupper ends vof said body members, straps also connected between the upper ends vof said body members in spaced relation to the shoulder member to provide the latter with armholes, ahead sustaining member connected to said' shoulder mem-ber and composed of front and rear pillows, narrow Vthin connecting ioats varranged at theV sides of the neck and being compressible, means tocompress said side floats about the neck of the weare; and means to secure the lower portion ot'v the rear body member ltoV the"` lower portion of the front body'fmember.`

4. A life preserver Voi' the character de-l scribed includ-ingfa 'front' body Vmember composed of a plurality of sectionsfiexibly connectedV together and linclii'ding a horizontal series of strips of buoyant material, 'fabric coverings for said buoyant Vmaterial 'forming flexible -joints between adjacent member to the lower portionofsaid ffront member-and to clasp suchmembers tightly against the trunk orV the body. Y l

ln testimony whereo-fl hereunto afliX.V my

ANNA' ,'DENE, BAILEY.

signature. Y 

